Develop an electrified technology for non-potable reuse of septic tank effluent

Septic systems, widely used by >25% of U.S. households, represent a 6-billion-dollar market with a 5-7% projected growth rate. There is growing interest in non-potable reuse of septic tank effluent, yet existing disinfection methods are either costly (e.g., UV) or require households to handle hazardous chemicals (e.g., chlorine tablets). This project will validate a promising septic tank technology that enables low-cost, chemical-free disinfection of domestic wastewater for on-site non-potable reuse. The main innovation of the proposed technology is that it utilizes microbes and electricity to generate a disinfectant in situ. The technical feasibility of this technology has been validated in lab settings, and will be further validated on real-world wastewater in this project. Compared to current technologies, the proposed technology is expected to achieve similar treatment performance (i.e., meeting the NSF/ANSI 350 on-site reuse standard), but has the advantages of being easier and safer to operate, and being more adaptable to the conditions in rural areas. The envisioned market for this technology is households and small buildings, in sparsely populated areas and in states where non-potable reuse of septic tank effluent is widely adopted (e.g., Louisiana and Mississippi). An in-depth market research will be completed in this project. The proposed technology is expected to outperform current technologies in terms of life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, benefitting from the electrified nature. A detailed environmental life cycle assessment will be computed to confirm its environmental performance in this project.